Reflections
A memory is what is left when something happens and does not
completely unhappen. Edward de Bono
Wipers clacked in rhythm while they effortlessly removed pattering rain from the SUV windshield as it sped down the highway. After four long years Sarah was finally returning home with her journalism degree ready to start a new phase of her life. Like any twenty-one year old college graduate Sarah was excited and anxious about the future that lay ahead of her. After all, she had never held a "real" job.
Of course she had volunteered for the school newspaper and was one of their featured columnists but that was strictly for experience. Now she had hopes of working for a newspaper and perhaps even becoming a novelist. On the other hand she was a little nervous about returning home to her family. What would they expect of her now she was an adult? What would she expect of herself?
It felt good to be going home but on some level she felt like a it wasn't home anymore, she felt more like a returning guest. She imagined that was part of becoming an independent person and craving your own space. Sarah was not the girl who left home fours years ago; she was now a young woman ready to make her mark in life.
While she felt a little awkward about living under her parent's roof she couldn't wait to see Toby and her Underground friends. Toby always made a fuss when she was returning to school after a break, now she could get reacquainted with her little brother. As for her Underground friends, Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo understood she could not call them to visit at college, after all, what would her roommate think? Yet, she laughed to herself, considering some of the characters she had seen on campus they might have fit right in. Yes, she had some catching up to do.
Her mind drifted back to the Underground and her journey through the Labyrinth. The morning following her adventure she woke up believing the whole thing was a waking dream, a product of her overactive imagination. When faced with her demolished bedroom she chalked it off to acting out her fantasy. After all, that was what made it so realistic. She was quite pleased with that explanation until she realized her ring was missing.
Sarah's mother had given her that ring and it never left her finger. Suddenly her simple explanations started to crack in the face of evidence to the contrary. Not ready to entertain the possibility that the Wiseman had her ring she frantically searched through the debris in her room. Coming up empty and starting to panic she thought she would just prove to herself it couldn't be in the Labyrinth because it was all a dream.
Feeling foolish she stood in front of her mirror and said, "Hoggle I need you." The dwarf immediately appeared behind her and asked, "What's the matter Missy? Yous need help with clean up?" Sarah promptly fainted.
When Sarah woke up to Hoggle lightly tapping her face she then accepted the fact it had all been real. She had traversed the Labyrinth and she could have lost her brother forever. Immediately guilt set in and she started to cry. Hoggle was confused by her outburst and asked, "What's wrong? You won. I thought you was happy." She shook her head and through sobs cried, "I might have lost Toby. Oh Hoggle, how can I live with that?" The little dwarf responded sincerely, "Well, yous didn't lose him. Yous won him back from that rat, Jareth. You should be proud. Sarah, you are the bravest person I know."
With Hoggle's words echoing in her memory Sarah's thoughts strayed to the Goblin King. Even though it had been years since she had seen him, his image was still vivid in her mind. Jareth was beautiful, powerful and dangerously seductive. Sarah knew deep down she defeated him only by the grace of God and the blindness of her youthful determination. Her mind wandered back to the ballroom and how vulnerable she had been as she danced in his arms. Being pursued by a handsome suitor and swept off her feet was her dream come true.
His plan had a good chance of working but ironically Jareth's own arrogance had been her salvation. He believed she was so deeply under his spell that she wouldn't notice the lustful hunger of the circling dancers or the striking of the clock. She would never forget the haughty look on his face when he thought she was caught in the dream and he would certainly be victorious. He had either underestimated her determination or overestimated his charms. Either way she broke free only because he miscalculated.
It frightened her even now to realize how very easily she could have lost in those moments. She shivered as she thought of what her and Toby's fate would have been left to the mercy of someone as cold as Jareth. Shaking herself out of the past she boldly said out loud, "Well, I didn't lose to you Goblin King. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" With that remark Sarah burst out laughing. Here she was talking to herself. As her humor was restored she mused. "I defeated an entire goblin army, I should be nervous about going home?" With a renewed spirit and a smile on her face Sarah continued driving down the highway.